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799 Prefix/Milwaukee Telephone Memories

J

Jay_F

I haven't lived in Milwaukee since I was a kid. That's where I developed my love for radio which I still have all these decades latter. One of my memories of Milwaukee is that all of the stations studio lines started with the 799 prefix. Is this still true today? Does anybody have any history of when this started?, it must have been a long time ago. What a great idea, the market I'm in has never had a uniform prefix for request lines.

Speaking of phone numbers, I was a huge fan of calling recorded telephone messages. Is the weather number still 936-1212 and the time 844-1414? It's amazing how those numbers stuck in my head all these years latter. I also was a loyal caller to God-Love, I thought it was the best dial a prayer ever (and I'm not even a Christian). To keep this radio related I first heard about that number while listening to WVCY one night. Another WVCY memory is they played a slow version of "Michael row your boat ashore" that sounded so spooky that my brother and I cried before we fell asleep. I also liked calling a recording that told you which movies the Catholic church did and did not approve of.
 
> I haven't lived in Milwaukee since I was a kid. That's where
> I developed my love for radio which I still have all these
> decades latter. One of my memories of Milwaukee is that all
> of the stations studio lines started with the 799 prefix. Is
> this still true today? Does anybody have any history of when
> this started?, it must have been a long time ago. What a
> great idea, the market I'm in has never had a uniform prefix
> for request lines.
>
> Speaking of phone numbers, I was a huge fan of calling
> recorded telephone messages. Is the weather number still
> 936-1212 and the time 844-1414? It's amazing how those
> numbers stuck in my head all these years latter. I also was
> a loyal caller to God-Love, I thought it was the best dial a
> prayer ever (and I'm not even a Christian). To keep this
> radio related I first heard about that number while
> listening to WVCY one night. Another WVCY memory is they
> played a slow version of "Michael row your boat ashore" that
> sounded so spooky that my brother and I cried before we fell
> asleep. I also liked calling a recording that told you which
> movies the Catholic church did and did not approve of.
>

I lived in Zion until I was 10 when I moved to Kenosha. I grew up on both Milwaukee and Chicago radio. Especially Milwaukee.

WEMP was always 799-1250 (still is)
WAMG was always 799-1037 (still is)
WLTQ was 799-1997
WZTR was 799-1957

Once in 1994-1995 I asked my mom if she could call WAMG and ask for a T-Shirt. WAMG answered and told them to call the office (414) 529-1250. They said they would have to call us back and they did. The caller ID said "WEMP" under the number. A few weeks later I got a WAMG shirt with 2 WMYX bumper stickers and three magnets for each of the stations. Sadly, I only have 1 WAMG magnet left out of all that stuff. Rest got lost.


WXSS's comment line in their first days back in 1998 was (414) 529-1037

I first heard WLIP in 1996. They were a mix of talk and oldies at the time with Brewers games and Art Bell. On Saturday mornings they had a show called "The Radio Rummage Sale" which was basically a trade show. Their number was (414) 694-1050 and the callers always had to give out their numbers. Thats how I first heard the Kenosha prefixes (652, 694, 656, 697, etc)

WZXA-104.7 "Sunny 104.7" was 1-800-371-1047. They ran satellite Hot AC back in the mid 90s with some local shifts. 104.7's number was still 1-800-371-1047 when it was The Wolf. Not sure about now with the Spanish format.<P ID="signature">______________

AIM: JeremyA1069</P>
 
That WEMP 799-1250 number goes WAY back. I can remember calling that number many times in the mid-1970s when they ran a (short lived) Top 40 format. I was a huge fan and seemed to be one of their only listeners. Anytime I tried to win anything I could easily get through. I won a ton of certificates from the Burger Chef fast food restraunt. I also won LPs from Abba and the Sylvers. Looking back, they tried top 40 too late, by that time FM was getting popular for rock and Top 40 music. About a year latter they switched to country and I felt such loyalty to WEMP that I became a country fan. I would call up 799-1250 requesting Johnny Duncan songs.

I think it's cool that all this time latter and after all the format changes they have been through WEMP has the same phone number. Thanks for letting me know.



> I haven't lived in Milwaukee since I was a kid. That's
> where
> > I developed my love for radio which I still have all these
>
> > decades latter. One of my memories of Milwaukee is that
> all
> > of the stations studio lines started with the 799 prefix.
> Is
> > this still true today? Does anybody have any history of
> when
> > this started?, it must have been a long time ago. What a
> > great idea, the market I'm in has never had a uniform
> prefix
> > for request lines.
> >
> > Speaking of phone numbers, I was a huge fan of calling
> > recorded telephone messages. Is the weather number still
> > 936-1212 and the time 844-1414? It's amazing how those
> > numbers stuck in my head all these years latter. I also
> was
> > a loyal caller to God-Love, I thought it was the best dial
> a
> > prayer ever (and I'm not even a Christian). To keep this
> > radio related I first heard about that number while
> > listening to WVCY one night. Another WVCY memory is they
> > played a slow version of "Michael row your boat ashore"
> that
> > sounded so spooky that my brother and I cried before we
> fell
> > asleep. I also liked calling a recording that told you
> which
> > movies the Catholic church did and did not approve of.
> >
>
> I lived in Zion until I was 10 when I moved to Kenosha. I
> grew up on both Milwaukee and Chicago radio. Especially
> Milwaukee.
>
> WEMP was always 799-1250 (still is)
> WAMG was always 799-1037 (still is)
> WLTQ was 799-1997
> WZTR was 799-1957
>
> Once in 1994-1995 I asked my mom if she could call WAMG and
> ask for a T-Shirt. WAMG answered and told them to call the
> office (414) 529-1250. They said they would have to call us
> back and they did. The caller ID said "WEMP" under the
> number. A few weeks later I got a WAMG shirt with 2 WMYX
> bumper stickers and three magnets for each of the stations.
> Sadly, I only have 1 WAMG magnet left out of all that stuff.
> Rest got lost.
>
>
> WXSS's comment line in their first days back in 1998 was
> (414) 529-1037
>
> I first heard WLIP in 1996. They were a mix of talk and
> oldies at the time with Brewers games and Art Bell. On
> Saturday mornings they had a show called "The Radio Rummage
> Sale" which was basically a trade show. Their number was
> (414) 694-1050 and the callers always had to give out their
> numbers. Thats how I first heard the Kenosha prefixes (652,
> 694, 656, 697, etc)
>
> WZXA-104.7 "Sunny 104.7" was 1-800-371-1047. They ran
> satellite Hot AC back in the mid 90s with some local shifts.
> 104.7's number was still 1-800-371-1047 when it was The
> Wolf. Not sure about now with the Spanish format.
>
 
If I remember correctly, when we ordered a phone number for WEZW 103.7, we had to order a "799" line. We were told they could handle a larger volume of calls.
 
> If I remember correctly, when we ordered a phone number for
> WEZW 103.7, we had to order a "799" line. We were told they
> could handle a larger volume of calls.
>
In those "old" phone switch days, Wisconsin Bell mandated that you get a "799" number for request / contest lines. There was one other restriction, it had to be 799-1nnn, where you could only pick the last 3 digits. That usually worked out good for most stations, they just would say "one six twenty" or "one ninety-six five" if they were in the lower part of the bands, and "one oh six one" or "twelve fifty" for the upper halfs. Each other exchange had 3 lines to that switch. It also had a larger number of busy line terminations compared to a regular switch due to contest calling. This was to keep the phone system from crashing if a big contest was done over the air. I do remember at least one instance where the system was taken down because a huge number of people tried to win a large cash prize back in the 80's. The "1" restriction was lifted late in the 90's as equipment upgrades were done.

I think Chicago had a similar exchange for stations, wasn't it "591"?
 
> If I remember correctly, when we ordered a phone number for
> WEZW 103.7, we had to order a "799" line. We were told they
> could handle a larger volume of calls.

I can understand where this would be the case. My dad worked in telcom for over 20 years, and it makes sense the phone company may have had equipment on that particular exchange that was capable of handling a higher volume of calls. Unfortunately, I can't ask him, as he is no longer with us.<P ID="signature">______________
narniabanner.jpg
</P>
 
> If I remember correctly, when we ordered a phone number for
> WEZW 103.7, we had to order a "799" line. We were told they
> could handle a larger volume of calls.
>

The 799 numbers are referred to as "Choke" lines. Back in the day of mechanical and early electronic switches, a large volume of calls would bring a regular switch to it's knees. To prevent this, the bells installed special high capacity switches in larger markets.

Of course nowadays with computerized switching, choke lines aren't real necessary. Since the prefix has been around forever, though, the media still use them.

Oh, a treat for Don:

wezw.jpg
<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> I think Chicago had a similar exchange for stations, wasn't
> it "591"?
>
For the 312 area code, that was the case for Chicago stations that were in downtown. Now some Chicago stations have their studios outside of downtown Chicago, plus with Chicago adding area code 773 in the early 90's, I don't know if there was a separate exchange designed for that, or if computers eliminated it when additional area codes were added. But Downtown Chicago stations still use the 591 exchange, but there was no requirement on the 1st number of the last 4 digits though.
 
> > I think Chicago had a similar exchange for stations,
> wasn't
> > it "591"?
> >
> For the 312 area code, that was the case for Chicago
> stations that were in downtown. Now some Chicago stations
> have their studios outside of downtown Chicago, plus with
> Chicago adding area code 773 in the early 90's, I don't know
> if there was a separate exchange designed for that, or if
> computers eliminated it when additional area codes were
> added. But Downtown Chicago stations still use the 591
> exchange, but there was no requirement on the 1st number of
> the last 4 digits though.
>
100.3 WPNT's number was always 591-7646

Once I called 411 asking what their number was out of bordom (I was about 8 or 9 back then) and they connected me to some recording talking about the numbers to call and about the Fred Winston morning show.

Area code wise, if you want to go WAY back:

Lake County (847/224 now) was first in the 312 area code. Then sometime in the 80s it became 708. Then in the early 90s I think it became 847. Now that that is getting over crowded, they added 224.

Everywhere in eastern Wisconsin from Green Bay all the way thru Kenosha was 414 until the late 90s when 920 was introduced to the northeast. Then in 2000 262 was introduced for everywhere in southeast Wisconsin outside of Milwaukee county. <P ID="signature">______________

AIM: JeremyA1069</P>
 
> > I haven't lived in Milwaukee since I was a kid. That's
> where
> > I developed my love for radio which I still have all these
>
> > decades latter. One of my memories of Milwaukee is that
> all
> > of the stations studio lines started with the 799 prefix.
> Is
> > this still true today? Does anybody have any history of
> when
> > this started?, it must have been a long time ago. What a
> > great idea, the market I'm in has never had a uniform
> prefix
> > for request lines.
> >
> > Speaking of phone numbers, I was a huge fan of calling
> > recorded telephone messages. Is the weather number still
> > 936-1212 and the time 844-1414? It's amazing how those
> > numbers stuck in my head all these years latter. I also
> was
> > a loyal caller to God-Love, I thought it was the best dial
> a
> > prayer ever (and I'm not even a Christian). To keep this
> > radio related I first heard about that number while
> > listening to WVCY one night. Another WVCY memory is they
> > played a slow version of "Michael row your boat ashore"
> that
> > sounded so spooky that my brother and I cried before we
> fell
> > asleep. I also liked calling a recording that told you
> which
> > movies the Catholic church did and did not approve of.
> >
>
> I lived in Zion until I was 10 when I moved to Kenosha. I
> grew up on both Milwaukee and Chicago radio. Especially
> Milwaukee.
>
> WEMP was always 799-1250 (still is)
> WAMG was always 799-1037 (still is)
> WLTQ was 799-1997
> WZTR was 799-1957
>
> Once in 1994-1995 I asked my mom if she could call WAMG and
> ask for a T-Shirt. WAMG answered and told them to call the
> office (414) 529-1250. They said they would have to call us
> back and they did. The caller ID said "WEMP" under the
> number. A few weeks later I got a WAMG shirt with 2 WMYX
> bumper stickers and three magnets for each of the stations.
> Sadly, I only have 1 WAMG magnet left out of all that stuff.
> Rest got lost.
>
>
> WXSS's comment line in their first days back in 1998 was
> (414) 529-1037
>
> I first heard WLIP in 1996. They were a mix of talk and
> oldies at the time with Brewers games and Art Bell. On
> Saturday mornings they had a show called "The Radio Rummage
> Sale" which was basically a trade show. Their number was
> (414) 694-1050 and the callers always had to give out their
> numbers. Thats how I first heard the Kenosha prefixes (652,
> 694, 656, 697, etc)
>
> WZXA-104.7 "Sunny 104.7" was 1-800-371-1047. They ran
> satellite Hot AC back in the mid 90s with some local shifts.
> 104.7's number was still 1-800-371-1047 when it was The
> Wolf. Not sure about now with the Spanish format.
>

WKTI used to have the request line 799-1194. They had a problem with the kids dialing before they got a dial tone, and when 911 became reality, well, they chose the new number 799-9494.

I do remember that WRKR in Racine had the number 799-1007, which was not in the Milwaukee market. It did allow a local call from Milwaukee for call-ins.
 
> > > I haven't lived in Milwaukee since I was a kid. That's
> > where
> > > I developed my love for radio which I still have all
> these
> >
> > > decades latter. One of my memories of Milwaukee is that
> > all
> > > of the stations studio lines started with the 799
> prefix.
> > Is
> > > this still true today? Does anybody have any history of
> > when
> > > this started?, it must have been a long time ago. What a
>
> > > great idea, the market I'm in has never had a uniform
> > prefix
> > > for request lines.
> > >
> > > Speaking of phone numbers, I was a huge fan of calling
> > > recorded telephone messages. Is the weather number still
>
> > > 936-1212 and the time 844-1414? It's amazing how those
> > > numbers stuck in my head all these years latter. I also
> > was
> > > a loyal caller to God-Love, I thought it was the best
> dial
> > a
> > > prayer ever (and I'm not even a Christian). To keep this
>
> > > radio related I first heard about that number while
> > > listening to WVCY one night. Another WVCY memory is they
>
> > > played a slow version of "Michael row your boat ashore"
> > that
> > > sounded so spooky that my brother and I cried before we
> > fell
> > > asleep. I also liked calling a recording that told you
> > which
> > > movies the Catholic church did and did not approve of.
> > >
> >
> > I lived in Zion until I was 10 when I moved to Kenosha. I
> > grew up on both Milwaukee and Chicago radio. Especially
> > Milwaukee.
> >
> > WEMP was always 799-1250 (still is)
> > WAMG was always 799-1037 (still is)
> > WLTQ was 799-1997
> > WZTR was 799-1957
> >
> > Once in 1994-1995 I asked my mom if she could call WAMG
> and
> > ask for a T-Shirt. WAMG answered and told them to call the
>
> > office (414) 529-1250. They said they would have to call
> us
> > back and they did. The caller ID said "WEMP" under the
> > number. A few weeks later I got a WAMG shirt with 2 WMYX
> > bumper stickers and three magnets for each of the
> stations.
> > Sadly, I only have 1 WAMG magnet left out of all that
> stuff.
> > Rest got lost.
> >
> >
> > WXSS's comment line in their first days back in 1998 was
> > (414) 529-1037
> >
> > I first heard WLIP in 1996. They were a mix of talk and
> > oldies at the time with Brewers games and Art Bell. On
> > Saturday mornings they had a show called "The Radio
> Rummage
> > Sale" which was basically a trade show. Their number was
> > (414) 694-1050 and the callers always had to give out
> their
> > numbers. Thats how I first heard the Kenosha prefixes
> (652,
> > 694, 656, 697, etc)
> >
> > WZXA-104.7 "Sunny 104.7" was 1-800-371-1047. They ran
> > satellite Hot AC back in the mid 90s with some local
> shifts.
> > 104.7's number was still 1-800-371-1047 when it was The
> > Wolf. Not sure about now with the Spanish format.
> >
>
> WKTI used to have the request line 799-1194. They had a
> problem with the kids dialing before they got a dial tone,
> and when 911 became reality, well, they chose the new number
> 799-9494.
>
WKTI also had a Kenosha-Racine phone number. 552-9494<P ID="signature">______________

AIM: JeremyA1069</P>
 
> Speaking of phone numbers, I was a huge fan of calling
> recorded telephone messages. Is the weather number still
> 936-1212 and the time 844-1414? It's amazing how those
> numbers stuck in my head all these years latter.

Of course, back when there were lettered exchanges they were WE6-1212 (WE for WEather) and TI4-1414 (TI for TIme)
 
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